Dragon Models

1/700 USS Livermore & Monssen 1942

Kit Number: 7088 (1+1)

Reviewed by  Luke R. Bucci, PhD, IPMS# 33549

MSRP: $29.95 Website: www.dragonmodelsusa.com Dragon launches a two-ships-in-one "Smart Kit" at a reasonable price with many accurate and finely detailed parts plus limited photoetch for the best US Navy destroyer Benson/Gleaves class 1/700 models today. Oddly, one ship (Livermore) is full hull only and the other (Monssen) only waterline. This and other strange omissions make this kit miss perfection, but is well worth acquiring for WW2 warship buffs. The Ships The Benson/Gleaves class of US Navy destroyers (DD421-444, 453-464, 483-497, 598-628, 632-648) was a most convoluted and confusing class of destroyers. A total of 96 ships were built to roughly the same design, but even with these large numbers, they were overshadowed by the later Fletcher and Sumner/Gearing classes. They went through more refits and appearances than other destroyers, which still causes confusion over what ship looked like what when. Early Benson class survivors usually had five different looks and there were plenty of individual exceptions in armament and camouflage schemes - enough to drive obsessive-compulsive modelers crazy. Perhaps because of complexity in this class, there have been few model kits of Benson class destroyers, until recently. They were first ordered in 1938 fresh on the heels of the single-stack Sims class, using a stronger but same size hull. The major advancements were use of new high pressure boilers and the unit propulsion system, where one set of boilers and engine room used one stack, necessitating two stacks. At first, they were called two-stack Sims. The unit propulsion system meant that a single shell or torpedo hit would not completely disable propulsion and power, improving survivability and fighting power. Their design paved the way for the important Fletcher class destroyers. Rather than get into a detailed history of this class, here is my view of the conflicting nomenclature in reference books and websites. For this review I will call these ships Gleaves class ships (round stacks). Some references will use Benson, Gleaves, Livermore and Bristol classes or any combination of those names. The different class names stem from different shipyards using their own designs, whether ships had flat-sided stacks or round stacks, and round or square bridges. The Bensons were ordered before, during and after the Fletcher class was built in order to rapidly use a proven design to build destroyer numbers quickly when war was imminent and then an actuality. Thus, Bensons were laid down from 1938 to late 1942 and filled the destroyer gap before Fletchers could be mass-produced. The Livermore (DD429) was authorized in 1939 as one of a follow-up batch of eight ships after the initial Benson order. She was designed by Gibbs & Cox and built at Bath Iron Works, Maine, and commissioned in late 1940 in a five-gun, two quintuple torpedo tube configuration (first in the US Navy) with a tall aft superstructure. This appearance was changed in 1942 to the appearance in this Dragon kit. The tall superstructure was removed, and 5 inch turret #3 was replaced by two new single 20mm guns on the aft superstructure. This refit was made before heavier antiaircraft guns (1.1-inch quads or twin 40mm mounts) were available. She served almost exclusively in the Atlantic, from Neutrality patrols to Torch landings to convoy screenings to Anzio to the invasion of southern France, picking up three battle stars. She was scrapped in 1961. For a more extensive history, see the IPMSUSA review of the Dragon 1-350 kit of Livermore by Ken Williams. Monssen (DD436) was in the same batch of Benson/Gleaves DDs as the Livermore, but built at Puget Sound, Washington. She was refit in early 1942 to her appearance in this kit. Unusually, Monssen removed one lifeboat and replaced it with an extra tub containing a single 20mm antiaircraft gun, accurately depicted in this kit. She also had two additional 20mm mounts on her aft superstructure, giving her nine total, compared to the standard six mounts in other ships. Unlike Livermore, Monssen had a brief but busy career centered around the number 13 - her hull number adds up to 13, she was grounded off buoy 13 in 13 feet of water with 13 officers off Cape Cod, she was with 13 US ships on Friday the 13th November 1942 when she was lost during the famous First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. After flashing her recognition lights as ordered, she was hit and disabled by heavy Japanese gunfire, and sank the next afternoon. Before then, she escorted the Doolittle raid, watched the Yorktown sink at Midway and was the first to open fire on Florida Island during the Guadalcanal/Tulagi invasion. She earned four battle stars in seven months. The Kit Dragon has two complete destroyer kits in a cruiser-size box. The number of sprues and parts is daunting, but it becomes obvious that there are many extra parts intended for other renditions of Benson/Gleaves class ships in future kits. The kit contains: Instruction sheet (8 page fold-out). Decal sheet for deck antislip walkways, hull numbers. Peel-off sheet for adhesive-backed flags. Two identical, small brass photoetch frets (MA, one per ship). 37 sprues of injection-molded polystyrene plastic: Sprue A (2) - Main decks and propellers, shafts, rudder. Sprue C (2) - Superstructure pieces. Sprue D (2) - Fittings. Sprue E (2) - Canvas-top 5 inch turret. Sprue F (4) - Torpedo tubes, 5 inch barrels, 40mm, 20mm twin mounts. Sprue H (4) - 20mm singles, 5 inch barrels, depth charge racks. Sprue I (4) - Double knuckle 5 inch turrets. Sprue J (4) - Single knuckle 5 inch turrets. Sprue K - Full hull for Livermore. Sprue L - Waterline hull for Monssen. Sprue S (2 each of 5 sprues) - Rafts, searchlights, radars, main directors. Sprue Z - Base stand and support finials for Livermore.

Simply put, these are the best 1/700 scale plastic parts I have seen for WW2 US Navy warships. Size and level of detail is accurate for all parts (except the 20mm guns), making these kits look good out of the box. The 5 inch turrets are the best anywhere. Both single and double knuckle turrets are provided, as well as canvas-topped turrets - seen nowhere else. The off-center 5 inch barrel is correctly depicted (another rarity). Even the barrels have a drilled out tip. The accuracy of these turrets is near perfection. There are seams on the barrels to remove, and turrets need assembly, but these are no problems. Incredible, and almost worth the cost of the kit just for the 5 inch turrets. Dragon would do well if they released the weapons sprues separately. I certainly would refit all my other USN ships with these weapons. 40mm and 20mm twin mounts are not used on these ships, and are welcome additions to the spare parts pile. The 20mm single mounts are somewhat overscale, an endemic problem with 1/700 plastic kits, but better than most here. To make the shields more to scale, sand them thinner. The 20mm barrels are just too thick, and are almost as thick as the 5 inch barrels - they look like 3 inch guns. These would be better if replaced by photo-etch pieces. The torpedo tubes are the best I have seen in 1/700 scale. The numerous fittings are superbly accurate, but most suffer from seams that are easy enough to remove, but an eye test. The risk of losing pieces to the carpet monster is extreme, but I lost only the two anchor capstans on Monssen. Other parts are in abundance and accurate - as accurate as this scale allows - and cannot be improved upon. The Build With this many tiny parts and two almost identical ships to build simultaneously, it is best to paint the parts on the sprues and touch them up later after removing seams or cleaning up parts. I airbushed all sprue parts and hulls with 5-O Ocean Grey since this was the predominant base color. I also airbushed all decks I could find (including tubs and bridge floors) with Deck Blue 20B - you may have to tape or cover some other parts. The Livermore full hull was masked and the bottom airbrushed with Tamiya Hull Red. I dispensed with the black waterline boot topping, since this was usually not seen because these ships were constantly overloaded, although on a full hull model it will be visible. I hand painted the complicated Measure 12 modified camouflage scheme with secondary colors (5N Navy Blue for hulls and 5H Haze Grey for superstructure) according to the Painting Guide. Go ahead and make larger size copies of the Painting Guide - they are too small for easy visualization in the instructions. The similar schemes looked very accurate according to photographs I could find of these ships in book and website references. There are seams to deal with in key pieces such as the bridge and other superstructure pieces. I really do not like how most plastic ship manufacturers make you assemble superstructures in pieces - will inevitably leave seams that are difficult to fill and sand without destroying some of the fine detail, or detract from the near perfection of these kits if left alone. Dragon Models - please take a hint from resin kits and mold the superstructure pieces as single pieces. Some seams will need to be filled with CA glue or putty. The level of detail molded on to superstructure sides is incredible, and means there is no need for photoetch parts on those pieces. Perhaps vertical ladders could be replaced with photoetch so they protrude from the sides, but in this scale that is not a big deal. The photoetch set has a considerable number of pieces for the bridge, and ladders too. There are even plastic jigs to help fold photoetch liferaft supports and propeller guards - a very nice touch. Which brings us to the decks. Much detail is molded on and even the anchor chains are good enough. Like the superstructure, there were some open seams between the deck and hull that needed to be filled with CA glue. These would have been hidden by railing, but there is no photoetch railing supplied in this kit, which to me is a big disappointment. Dragon has put full photoetch sets for their Atlanta-class cruiser kits (see the IPMSUSA reviews on the San Diego and Juneau), so why not these kits? The presence of such accurate and fine detail along with some photoetch pieces but no photoetch railings makes no sense to me. Like running a 25-mile marathon - lots of hard work but no finish. Makes this noble kit less than complete. But the best part about the decks is the antislip walkway decals. Again, Dragon should release this decal sheet separately. The decal placement instructions were clear and the decals fit precisely. They were sturdy enough to be wiggled into place without tearing, and adhered well with Solvaset treatment - no need for a clear gloss or Future coat first. These walkways were on many USN DDs, and really make the kit look close to scale. The walkways are subtle, but give that extra level of accuracy missing from most USN DD kits. Another high point of this kit. The instructions are a weak link. I think the entire sequence of construction is wrong. I prefer to build from the hull up, and add all the fittings and weapons at the end, and finish with masts, propeller guards and delicate photoetch pieces, and finally with railings. I completely disagree with finishing the superstructures on the decks and adding the decks to hulls last. First, it is begging for destroying some detail pieces from the extra handling, and it makes filling seams between deck and hull more difficult than it should be. There are a few mistakes and difficulties interpreting the instructions. Here are the places to look out for: Step 3, Livermore - part D20 (locker boxes) is mispositioned where the forward stack is - D20 fits into the recess in front of the forefunnel. Step 3 - Aft torpedo tube will bump into aft funnel pipes when pointed forward, so I had to turn around the aft torpedo tubes to point backwards. Fortunately, photos of other Benson class ships showed this was done in real life. Step 5 mushroom vents (parts D39) are difficult to realize you need to add them here - they are not specifically called out for assembly. Step 6 for Monssen is not pictured or mentioned as same as for Livermore, which it is. Step 6 - skip the photoetch funnel grilles, unless you plan to drill out the funnels first. The stacks are good enough as is. Step 7 - The round supports (D37) for midship gun tubs are too short and have ugly seams. I replaced them with plastic rod cut to the proper length. Step 9 - Do NOT position the anchors as pictured. All photos of Bensons show the anchors were not dangling straight down like in the instructions, but rather, where angled and flush against the hull. Cut off the shank and put the stock (flat part) towards the bow (see figures in this review). Step 11 - There were not enough oval liferafts supplied in the kit to fit out both ships. You will need to use some rectangular liferafts. I used those for the midship rafts. The liferafts are simply the best I have seen yet - even the backside is detailed. Step 12 shows adding the photoetch MA10 ladder to the back of the bridge. I looked at many Benson class photos, and it is very clear this ladder did not exist. Skip it. 10) Step 10 - Do NOT add the covers to ship's boats - they were not on these ships in 1942. Lifeboats were open, and painted solid 5-O, Ocean Grey. Instructions did not give advice on painting the insides of lifeboats - from photos I think the floors were Deck Blue with Ocean Grey sides. 11) It is not described in the instructions, but the flag sheet is not a decal to be wetted - it is a crack-and-peel style and you need to cut out each flag - not so easy. Even though the sequence of building was opposite of what I have learned is optimal, the instructions are generally clear and easy to follow, even for two similar ship models being built at the same time. I spent about 34 hours building these two ships, which is about right for building two ships with many tiny pieces, complicated painting, decals and photoetch, so it is not surprising assembly took that long. I used CA glue mostly in order to make sure the tiny parts were bonded sufficiently strong to stay put and not break during handling. After painting and assembly, I sprayed both models with a coat of clear flat from a Model Master rattle can. The deck antislip decals stayed on and did not dissolve, fortunately, but be light on the clear flat overcoat. I did not weather these ships at all. They looked fine as freshly out of refit. I compared the Monssen to an unbuilt resin kit of this class (the Barton, DD599 from Kobo Hiryu). The differences are immediately apparent. Dragon has captured the lean, sleek look of this class much better than the resin kit hull, which is too wide, short and has a chunky bow. This confirms that the Dragon Bensons are the best kit available for this class in 1/700 scale. From looking at photographs of Pitroad and Midship Models Benson class kits, and from looking at other modelers' renditions from these kits, it is clear that Dragon rules. No contest. This set of molds from Dragon is the best and will always be the best depiction of Bensons. Summary Dragon has put out an exceptional kit that produces very accurate and detailed renditions of the real things. They are to be commended for getting the details right, which is not easy for Benson/Gleaves class ships. The quality and accuracy of parts sets new benchmarks - it will be almost impossible to do anything better. The extra parts are always welcome and promise additional ships in this class for all possible refits (they will need minesweeping gear and 40mm quad mounts for late war variants - easily done by different sprues). In fact, the fittings and weapons are so good Dragon should consider selling them as aftermarket kits, ala Skywave's Equipment sets. They are better than anything else on the market. While deserving great praise, this kit has some issues. First is the odd choice of one waterline-only and one full hull-only kits. Why not have optional full hull/waterline pieces so the modeler can depict whatever version they want? Waterline aficionados like myself (I do not like full hulls in 1/700 scale) now face the daunting tasks of cutting off the Livermore hull to match the rest of my collection, or adding a hull to the Monssen. They look strange next to each other and next to other waterline models. The photoetch frets are welcome and add great detail. But there are missed opportunities here. No railings! Why? Other Dragon Premium kits have railings, and they are excellent. Why not here too? No photoetch radars either - again, something Dragon has supplied in other kits. BTW, the foremast radar on these ships was the early SA radar, not the typical SC radar used on destroyers soon after for the rest of the war. SA would look a lot better as an open photoetch piece, as would the Mk37 director radars. Ditto for the 20mm mounts, which in 1/700 scale are much better as photoetch pieces. With all the detail and photoetch parts on these kits, to not include photoetch railings, radars and 20mm mounts is like going to the prom without pants. Thus, these kits are not complete as other Dragon kits are, which to me is inexplicable. The level of attention and detail given to these kits meant that a conscious decision was made to not have railings, radars or 20mm mounts. I want to know why I could have had a perfect kit, but did not quite get one. Those gripes aside, I will buy the other versions of Bensons as they come out without reservation. This kit sets new standards for accuracy and quality, and a plethora of spare parts abounds, all for a reasonable price. When purchased at discount, these kits are a very good value. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Thanks to DragonModelsUSA for the much-appreciated review kit. Selected References: Adcock A. US Destroyers In Action. Part 3. Warships Number 21. Squadron/Signal Publications, Carrollton, TX, 2004. ISBN 0-89747-473-2 McComb D. US Destroyers 1934-45. Pre-war Classes. Osprey Publishing Ltd., Oxford, UK, 2010. ISBN 978-1-84908-252-5 Reilly JC. United States Navy Destroyers of World War II. Blandford Press, Poole, UK, 1983. ISBN 0-7137-1026-8 Whitley MJ. Destroyers of World War Two. An International Encyclopedia. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1988. ISBN 0-87021-326-1 Wiper S. Benson-Gleaves Class Destroyers. Warship Pictorial #12. Classic Warships Publishing, Tucson, AZ, 2001. ISBN 0-9710687-2-0 Selected Websites: www.destroyerhistory.org www.navsource.org/archives